Storm lift for Kearns' swansong
27 August 2005
Running high on the emotion of skipper Robbie Kearns' swansong, the Storm sent the Wests Tigers crashing back to earth with a 34-22 win in their NRL clash at Melbourne's Olympic Park on Saturday night.
With many wearing masks of the retiring Kearns, the Melbourne crowd bade farewell to their favourite son, with the Storm unlikely to play a home final.
It was the perfect send-off for Kearns, as his side ended the Tigers' eight-match winning streak, scoring six tries to four in an exciting affair.
The visitors have the best attacking record in the NRL and only took five minutes to show why as they sent the ball wide and caught the Storm short, with winger Daniel Fitzhenry beating his opposite Matt Geyer to touch down.
But Melbourne has the best defensive record in the competition and managed to hold the Tigers out for the remainder of the half, while posting three tries to take an 18-6 lead to the break.
After the Tigers were penalised for holding back hard-running centre Matt King, halfback Matt Orford, who is Manly-bound next season, took the ball in the ensuing play and threw a dummy before beating three defenders to score 11 minutes in.
Hooker Cameron Smith barrelled across the line for the next four-pointer before Geyer got some revenge and charged through some flimsy defence to extend the lead, which could have been even greater if video referee Phil Cooley hadn't ruled a knock-on in Ryan Hoffman's effort.
Melbourne started the second half in a similar vein, adding to its tally four minutes in.
A kick by Tigers hooker Robbie Farah was scooped up by Storm five-eighth Scott Hill and he got the ball away to centre Steve Bell, who charged 90 metres to the tryline.
Star fullback Billy Slater was a late withdrawal with a hip injury but 18-year-old Greg Inglis proved a more than capable replacement, showing plenty of speed and some great footwork
He grabbed his side's fifth try when he leapt high above Tigers defenders Mark O'Neill and Benji Marshall to grab an Orford bomb in the in-goal.
The visitors closed the gap to 28-10 midway through the second half, with centre Paul Whatuira touching down at the end of a well-worked backline move but any comeback was quickly snuffed out.
With Orford again showing how much he will be missed by the Storm next season, he managed to hold off the defence with a series of dummies and jinking runs to get a back-hand flick pass away to replacement forward Antonio Kaufusi who charged over the line.
With the clock winding down the tenacious Tigers scored consolation tries through Fitzhenry and winger Pat Richards but it was the Storm's night to celebrate.
Running high on the emotion of skipper Robbie Kearns' swansong, the Storm sent the Wests Tigers crashing back to earth with a 34-22 win in their NRL clash at Melbourne's Olympic Park on Saturday night.
With many wearing masks of the retiring Kearns, the Melbourne crowd bade farewell to their favourite son, with the Storm unlikely to play a home final.
It was the perfect send-off for Kearns, as his side ended the Tigers' eight-match winning streak, scoring six tries to four in an exciting affair.
The visitors have the best attacking record in the NRL and only took five minutes to show why as they sent the ball wide and caught the Storm short, with winger Daniel Fitzhenry beating his opposite Matt Geyer to touch down.
But Melbourne has the best defensive record in the competition and managed to hold the Tigers out for the remainder of the half, while posting three tries to take an 18-6 lead to the break.
After the Tigers were penalised for holding back hard-running centre Matt King, halfback Matt Orford, who is Manly-bound next season, took the ball in the ensuing play and threw a dummy before beating three defenders to score 11 minutes in.
Hooker Cameron Smith barrelled across the line for the next four-pointer before Geyer got some revenge and charged through some flimsy defence to extend the lead, which could have been even greater if video referee Phil Cooley hadn't ruled a knock-on in Ryan Hoffman's effort.
Melbourne started the second half in a similar vein, adding to its tally four minutes in.
A kick by Tigers hooker Robbie Farah was scooped up by Storm five-eighth Scott Hill and he got the ball away to centre Steve Bell, who charged 90 metres to the tryline.
Star fullback Billy Slater was a late withdrawal with a hip injury but 18-year-old Greg Inglis proved a more than capable replacement, showing plenty of speed and some great footwork
He grabbed his side's fifth try when he leapt high above Tigers defenders Mark O'Neill and Benji Marshall to grab an Orford bomb in the in-goal.
The visitors closed the gap to 28-10 midway through the second half, with centre Paul Whatuira touching down at the end of a well-worked backline move but any comeback was quickly snuffed out.
With Orford again showing how much he will be missed by the Storm next season, he managed to hold off the defence with a series of dummies and jinking runs to get a back-hand flick pass away to replacement forward Antonio Kaufusi who charged over the line.
With the clock winding down the tenacious Tigers scored consolation tries through Fitzhenry and winger Pat Richards but it was the Storm's night to celebrate.
She's gone! The wicked witch is gone! Oh - I like snowballing too!